


Tradition

by Cumberbatch Critter (ivelostmyspectacles)



Series: DouWata 30 Day OTP Challenge [6]
Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Cooking, Doumeki cooks!, Food, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 09:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4516182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Person A of your OTP is a keen cook, and has a signature dish that they always make once a week - which Person B loves, as their cooking skills are, well, absolutely awful. One day, Person A gets in an accident or gets sick and is hospitalised or bedbound for awhile, and it's up to Person B to learn how to make the signature dish so no one has to go without.</p><p>Person A is Watanuki, naturally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> _Source: OTP Prompts Tumblr_
> 
>  
> 
>  __Because I love the obsession with food in this fandom <3
> 
> I do not own _xxxHolic_. Thanks for reading!

Doumeki rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand, sighing shakily.

Watanuki had been in the hospital for two days; tomorrow would be the third, because he wasn't going anywhere yet. The hospital didn't understand that the illness had been caused by a spirit, and that spirit had been exorcised, but the lingering after-effects was keeping a disgruntled Watanuki in the hospital for longer than they had expected.

Watanuki wasn't worried, when he was awake, but that didn't mean Doumeki wasn't.

To take his mind off of it, he was giving himself something else to do.

For a few weeks now, Watanuki had been including tempura into their meals. One way or another, and Doumeki expected it was because he had made a comment about how he _didn't_ like tempura. (That was, of course, a lie; he knew that, to get what he wanted, all he had to do was say that he _didn't_ want it.)

But he _did_ like tempura, in fact. And he thoroughly enjoyed Watanuki's tempura, but now... they weren't going to get it for lunch this week. At least, not from Watanuki.

Doumeki was going to make it.

It wasn't that he couldn't cook. He could. He was competant in the kitchen, but let Watanuki cook for him for the simple fact that Watanuki was _better_. He liked to eat Watanuki's food, so he didn't cook. But tempura somehow escaped him. He had watched people prepare it before, but he had never tried it himself.

That was going to change; he was making tempura for himself and Watanuki and Kunogi.

 

 

He watched the mirin boil gently before adding the soy sauce. As soon as that boiled again, he could add the dashi, and tentsuyu wasn't that difficult to make, was it? But that was just the dipping sauce, so he had more to take care of.

 

 

He wasn't sure why they didn't have tempura flour, but an internet search gave him an altered recipe that he could use. Flour, baking soda, potato starch, and an egg. Simple enough. He guessed that the lumps still stuck in the batter afterwards didn't matter too much.

 

 

He held his fingers aloft under the rush of cold water against his burnt fingers, biting the inside of his lip against the curse on his tongue. He didn't like working with oil; it popped too much when hot.

 

 

Doumeki frowned, and poked at the spongy lump that was meant to be tempura. Something... had not gone right.

Uh.

 

 

"Isn't it a bit late for tempura, Shizuka?"

Doumeki curled his fingers into his palm, wincing when it hurt the burn from earlier. "Maybe. But, it's not... working," he muttered, casting a glance towards the failed tempura laying.

"Oh." His mom picked one up. "Did you test your oil?"

Doumeki frowned.

"If it's not hot enough, your batter doesn't get the chance to cook, and neither does your vegetables. You want to aim for 170, 175 degrees. If it isn't that, you get too much oil and your tempura is soggy."

 _It still managed to burn me_ , Doumeki thought sourly, but nodded.

"But don't let it get much hotter, or your tempura will burn before your vegetables cook."

"Okay." Doumeki nodded again.

"Your vegetables will only take a few minutes to cook. If you add too many to the oil at once, it'll lower the temperature, and it won't cook right. And make sure to scoop out the tenkasu in between batches, so that they won't burn."

Doumeki nodded for a third time.

This was harder than he thought.

 

 

He nibbled at a piece of the mushroom almost nervously. And it... didn't... taste... bad.

Doumeki blinked, and popped the rest of it into his mouth.

 

 

Doumeki was slightly out of breath as he knocked on Watanuki's hospital room door before sliding it open.

Watanuki was awake, and turned his head to look at him. "You're here. Again," he grumbled, although Doumeki thought that he didn't look displeased to see him. "Isn't it kind of late for this? It's already dark out."

Doumeki huffed, sliding the door shut behind him. "Couldn't wait. It doesn't reheat well."

"What doesn't?" Watanuki's eyes flickered to the bento box tucked under his arm. "Did you bring food?"

"I made it." Doumeki set it down, and pulled his jacket off.

Watanuki's eyebrows snapped up. " _You_ made it?"

Doumeki licked his lips, again, almost nervously. "Yeah. Tempura." He peeled the lid off the box and set it on the bed, reaching for the dipping sauce to remove the lid from the container.

Watanuki blinked. "Tempura?"

"Vegetable tempura."

" _You_ made _tempura_?" Watanuki repeated.

Doumeki glanced up. "You weren't going to make it."

"Of course I wasn't! I'm in the hospital." Watanuki sat up painstakingly. "Have you ever made tempura before?"

"No." Doumeki sank into the chair nearby.

"Oh, great." Watanuki reached for the chopsticks. "I'm sure this is going to be great," he said sarcastically.

Doumeki shrugged, reaching for a piece of tempura from the bento box.

"Hey, I thought this was for me!"

Doumeki was unperturbed, and popped a green bean into his mouth. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad. "We have to eat it together. We always do."

Watanuki frowned slightly, and looked at the tempura for a moment. Then, he almost smiled, and closed his eyes briefly. "You'll give some to Himawari-chan tomorrow?"

Doumeki nodded. "Yeah. I'll take it over to her house."

"Good." Watanuki paused. "Just don't be spending the day there, or I'll be suspicious!" He dipped the tempura and took a bite of it.

Doumeki watched him carefully, looking for anything that would give him away, what he was thinking-

"... yeah, this is awful."

Watanuki's tone was betrayed by the way he dipped again, and shoved the rest into his mouth.

Doumeki's facade was betrayed by the way his lips twitched up in the corner.

"Absolutely awful," Watanuki continued, as he continued to eat. "I'm going to have to teach you to cook, too. Gosh."

Doumeki pressed his lips together to stop a smile, and reached for another piece for himself.

" _Hey_! Don't eat that, that's the one I want!"

"I thought you didn't like it," Doumeki replied, licking tentsuya sauce from his fingers.

"Oh, shut up."

 


End file.
